"Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20 1966 – December 8, 2004) (also credited as Diamond Darrell) was the guitarist in the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan.
Early life
Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Dallas, Texas, USA; the son of country songwriter, Jerry Abbott. His father owned a recording studio in Pantego, Texas, where Darrell had seen many blues guitarists play, inspiring him to take up the instrument himself. At an early age, Abbott began entering statewide guitar competitions and by the age of sixteen had been banned from entering because he had won too often.
Pantera
- Main article: Pantera
Pantera was formed in 1981 with Darrell's brother Vinnie Paul on drums. In the band's early days, Pantera could be considered what would later be referred to (sometimes in a derogatory sense) as hair metal or glam metal but the band eventually evolved into what could be considered power metal, "true" metal (a term used by many scene purists), or, by the band's own definition, "power groove". Pantera went on to become one of the most influential and popular Heavy Metal bands of the 1990s. The band officially quit in 2003 due to conflicts with vocalist Phil Anselmo.
Damageplan
After Pantera broke up, Darrell and his brother Vinnie decided to continue their music careers with a new band, Damageplan, with Patrick Lachman (vocals) and Bob Zilla (bass guitar). Their debut album, New Found Power, reached number 38 in the charts in 2004. The band was effectively ended with Dime's murder, Vinnie Paul has not announced any musical projects since his brother's death. In early 2004, Damageplan manager Paul Bassman announced that a second Damageplan album was nearly finished at the time of Dimebag's death but there is no word yet as to whether this material will ever even be released to the public.[[1]]
Other projects
Sometime circa the breakup of Pantera and the formation of Damageplan, the Abbott brothers teamed up with country singer David Allan Coe to do a project called "Rebel Meets Rebel".
Music professionalism
Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines, both in advertisements for equipment he endorsed and in the readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In Darrell's early career as a musician, he used Dean ML guitars, but later switched from sponsor Dean, to Washburn. Darrell used Washburn guitars for the greater half of his career (1996-2003), endorsing various signature models. Seymour Duncan also has a signature pickup co-designed by Dime, called the Dimebucker. He proudly endorsed Seymour Duncan, but he continued to use the L-500XL pickup designed by pickup guru Bill Lawrence. In order to commemorate the loss of Dime, Dean guitars has released the new Dime Tribute line of ML guitars. These guitars come in various models, ranging from lower end ones that have a stop tail piece, a bolt-on neck, and lower quality pickups, to higher end models with Dimebuckers, a floyd-rose, and set neck construction. Darrell also wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness (ISBN 0769291015).
Musical influences
Among Dimebag's other influences were Eddie Van Halen and Ace Frehley. In addition, he cited many of his contemporaries among his influences, including Slayer's Kerry King, Zakk Wylde, Metallica's James Hetfield, and Helmet's Page Hamilton. He also credits Vito Rulez of Chauncy for convincing him to try Bill Lawrence pickups.
Abbott's murder
Abbott was murdered while performing on December 8 2004 at a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, Ohio, entered the nightclub at about 10:00 p.m., just after the performance began, after scaling an eight-foot fence and being chased into the building by club security. He entered the left side of the stage and proceeded across to the right where Abbott was standing. Gale then grabbed Abbott and shot him twice in the head with a Beretta pistol at point blank range. Abbott received a total of 5 to 8 gunshots.
Three others were killed in the shooting: attendee Nathan Bray, 23, of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29, of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, of Texas. The band's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were also injured.
According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots from a Beretta pistol, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting (although early reports indicated he made disparaging remarks about the breakup of Pantera). When security staff and audience members climbed the stage to try to stop him, Gale fired at them, killing Halk and Thompson and wounding Brooks and Paluska. Gale then took a hostage, holding him in a headlock position. When the hostage moved slightly, Columbus police officer James D. Niggemeyer, who was the first officer on scene, shot and killed Gale with a 12 gauge police issue shotgun in the back of the head.
During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived [2]. According to some reports, victim Nathan Bray was also attempting to render assistance when he was killed.
The shootings occurred on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon, but there is no indication that this was a factor in Gale's actions.
In May 2005, Officer James D. Niggemeyer went before the Franklin County grand jury, which is charged with formally investigating police shootings. As expected, Niggemeyer was cleared and commended on his outstanding police work in the time of a crisis.